A year ago, Activision proved you could have too much of a good thing with their Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock release which has been the last major band based rhythm game to come out with any sort of real backing to the mass market. For years, guitar and band games dominated sales charts between Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Those who presumably had taken this the worst had to be Harmonix who had pioneered the plastic instrument market with the original Guitar Hero only to see their own new franchise Rock Band take a beating from the oversaturated market caused by Activision. But from the ashes of so many plastic guitars and drum kits, a new genre came back to life with the dance game with both Dance Central and Just Dance.

Dance Central would captivate the world by measuring the full use of the dancer’s body to see how accurately they could replicate the motions on screen which quickly made it the defining piece of hardware for the newly launched XBox 360 Kinect peripheral. Now, Dance Central 2 returns to show you really can’t have too much of a good thing… as long as you do it right.

Gameplay:

Dance Central 2, like its predecessor, revolves around players standing in front of their TV and mirroring the dance moves in front of them. At heart, it is an incredibly simple concept but anyone who has tried dancing at any point in their life can vouch that just because you can see it done in front of you, it doesn’t mean you can do it too without a little practice.

Dance Central 2 works with all levels of dance skill thankfully so people who are experienced dancers can be challenged while rookie rump shakers can still enjoy themselves even though their arms and legs flailing in the air may make them look like they are having a seizure to passersby. Thankfully, individual dances still have the freestyle sections where the Kinect takes pictures of players to remind them just how silly they look in motion.

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Last year, we took a more traditional approach with our Best Video Games of 2009 article with categories such as Best Music Game or Best Action Platformer. This year we are going to depart from the traditional and give what we think are categories that truly deserve to be rewarded their due.

Best Use of Zombies / Best Downloadable Content – Red Dead Redemption “Undead Nightmare”

The ultimate “What If” scenario brought forth to one of the best games of 2010, “What if the undead invaded the old west?” And the answer doesn’t just involve a lot of people dying. There are horses of the apocalypse, big foot, some hard choices to be made and people turning on or abandoning their fellow man left and right.

This awesome story told over the revamped look of Red Dead Redemption using characters players have already grown to know, love or despise makes Undead Nightmare not only the best zombie game of 2010 but also the best exmple of DLC for the entire year as well.

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A few weeks ago, we reviewed Rock Band 3, letting you all know it still holds the title for the best party band game by far.  One of our reasons for this is because of the ever expanding library of music constantly being added to it. Now, we mentioned we are going to be having a live event in Connecticut with some Rock Band 3 prizes coming up in December but until then we have some awesome DLC codes to give away for any Rock Band 3 owners over our twitter.

With the help of Harmonix’s own @HMXhenry we have acquired four codes to giveaway Bon Jovi’s Greatest Hits packs for the XBox 360. The packs include three revamped Rock Band 3 pro guitar versions of “Livin’ on a Prayer”, “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” in addition to nine new songs never before seen in the Rock Band series.

Check out the full list, and get the giveaway times after the jump.

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We are not exactly what you’d call a group of talented dancers. For the most part, many of us wouldn’t even be good enough to be considered bad dancers. But that didn’t stop us from picking up the most anticipated Kinect launch title, Dance Central, not surprisingly a game that involves dancing.

At Comic Con, we got our first chance to experience Dance Central and even though it was fairly embarrassing showing our moves to a room full of fellow press, we quickly realized we weren’t the only ones who couldn’t dance (with the once exception being one guy who looked like he was a professionally trained hip hop dancer who was rocking out to “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe).  And most importantly, it was fun.

But the question remained if it would be able to sustain itself as a full game and not just a quick burst of enjoyment for a song or two. We are happy to report that the answer is an astounding yes.

Gameplay:

Dance Central is the most perfect use so far of a world without a controller. Using the Kinect, Dance Central monitors every movement a player makes as they try to mimic the on screen dances of the expert dancer characters. Unlike other Kinect games like Kinect Adventures or Kinect Sports, the on screen character is not a direct representation of the player. Instead, it acts as a model of what the player should be doing.

There is a small box on the right of the screen showing a silhouette of what the player is actually doing. When a player deviates from the correct moves, the on screen character model will glow red over the body part that isn’t doing what it should be doing. There is also a Freestyle section of each song where players see a glowing outline of themselves dancing on screen with no direction. To add to the self-deprecation of the non-dancing crowd, the Kinect makes sure to take pictures of you during this portion.

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One of the most exciting aspects of working in the industry is the chance to try out new games before the general public does. With those new games sometimes comes the new emerging technologies as well. This year at San Diego Comic Con, Kinect (formerly Project Natal) was available for the press to try out in Microsoft’s private press lounge. While there, I got the chance to try out two of the upcoming Kinect titles, Kinect Sports and Dance Central.

At first glance, many people would look at Kinect Sports and say it is a rip off of Wii Sports. To an extent, their claim is warranted. Kinect Sports is a collection of minigames using the Kinect motion controls centered around various sports. One can’t fault Microsoft for creating this title. It is no secret that Wii Sports helped drive sales of the Wii above the 25 million unit mark to non-traditional video game players. Sony is also producing Sports Champions for the PlayStation Move. It’d be leaving money on the table if Microsoft didn’t capitalize on this trend as well.

The first thing you notice about the Kinect is the lack of tangible feedback. During Kinect Sports, my first instinct was to grasp the bowling ball as my avatar’s hand went over it. The game responds by automatically grabbing the ball, regardless of whether you actually close your hand around it. For a moment, it catches you off guard that you aren’t really holding anything.

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Apologies to all but the rigors of E3 and some technical glitches means the podcast is coming out today instead of yesterday. Still, better late then never, right? Anyway, on with the show.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by games editor John Carle to talk all-things Electronic Entertainment Expo. With E3 in full swing the boys have lots to discuss including all the news and announcements from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony as well as  thoughts and observations about upcoming games, the Kinect, Sony’s Move and the Activision preview event/concert complete with indoor fireworks.

Your hosts also made some great picks this week and in keeping with the E3 theme, all of them picked a game or technology they were most interested in or excited about from the show. John picked Marvel vs. Capcom 3 while Matt decided to choose Portal 2 and Chris took the somewhat obvious choice of Call of Duty: Black Ops.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

We had a chance to check out Harmonix’s upcoming game Dance Central late yesterday at E3 and I’m happy to report that the game is pretty awesome. Utilizing Microsoft’s Kinect for XBox 360, players are able to dance and control the game without any kind of controller.

In fact, you are the controller and your movements make your avatar perform. It’s pretty amazing and when watching it in person the movement and control were pretty seamless. The game itself is a progression of dance riffs you have to emulate with the on-screen dancers in order to advance.

The dancers in the short video we took make it look pretty easy but let me assure you, it isn’t as easy as it looks. Sadly, the video of me actually attempting to play the game has mysteriously disappeared.

But rest assured, you will get the idea from these others doing their thing. Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to dance soon when the game is released. Until the check out this short video of the game after the break.

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Video games are a big part of the world these days. People love them and they far surpass pretty much any other form of entertainment in terms of revenue. Yes, they even beat the movies. One of the most popular game titles to hit stores in the last few years has been the Rock Band franchise. Rock Band 1 and 2 have sold millions of copies and now Rock Band 3 has been announced and looks to add millions more units sold to that already impressive total for the franchise.

Some of the new features and tracks announced for Rock Band 3 include access to the most music available in any video game with more than 1,500 tracks and growing, a new keyboard gameplay and three-part harmonies for up to seven players rocking together, Rock Band Pro Mode and much more. We could go into all the new features and song that will encompass Rock Band 3 but instead, why not hear it directly from the people who are bringing you the game. So, here’s all the info directly from an official Rock Band 3 press release. Oh, and at the end we’ve also included a couple preview videos for the game as well so be sure and check them out.

The Most Music. Period.

The Rock Band 3 disc soundtrack contains 83 of the best bands from around the world, including bands that have never appeared in a music game, as well as support for existing Rock Band tracks (Rock Band and Rock Band 2 discs, downloaded songs, track packs, AC/DC Live: Rock Band™ Track Pack, LEGO® Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band™).
Additionally, Rock Band 3 will give players immediate access to a music library approaching 2,000 songs by launch, with new content added regularly. Rock Band’s gigantic music selection dwarfs that of any other music game on the market.

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In the first half of The Best Video Games of 2009, we saw Best Portable, Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 Exclusive titles. Now things are ramping up on the way to the Game of the Year.

Best Music Game

Tie – The Beatles: Rock Band and DJ Hero

The Rock Band / Guitar Hero formula has been done to death at this point. Players play songs in a set list to unlock more music. Repeat as many times as needed until all songs have been unlocked. But it was 2009 that the music game genre took two big steps forward. As loved as Metallica is, their Guitar Hero installment couldn’t hold a candle to the weight of the legacy that the Beatles would bring with them in The Beatles: Rock Band. For the first time, there was a career spanning take on the legendary act with amazing and unique visuals attuned to the songs being played out.

With the addition of harmonies for the first time in any music game, The Beatles: Rock Band stepped up the feel of being in a full band to another level. Along with the unrivaled set list that only the Beatles could produce, the game has a shelf life that can outlast the pop-centric songs of current game releases.

A little over a month later, music gaming took another leap but this time into the unknown. Many people grow up hoping to become famous musicians at one point in their life but nowhere near as many look to become famous DJs. DJ Hero from Activision brought in masters of turntablism with the likes of the original hip-hop DJ Grand Master Flash to DJ Jazzy Jeff to electronica legends Daft Punk in the ultimate mashup collection.

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Good news for all the rockers and Lego fans everywhere! The entire Lego Rock Band set list was released for both the PS3/Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS versions of the game and includes songs from Queen, Bon Jovi, P!NK, Jimi Hendrix and Blur. Warner Bros. and MTV Games also announced that tracks from the Rock Band Store will be available for play within Lego Rock Band, and for $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points), the Lego Rock Band tracks can be exported for play in any other Rock Band games. An internet connection will be required for this export.

LEGO Rock Band will feature everything we know and love about the previous Rock Band games as well as the family-friendly, silly antics gamers have come to expect from the LEGO franchise. Players will be able to design their whole band as well as their roadies and manager. Keeping with the family-friendly theme, only songs that are suitable for all-ages will be available for purchase and play within the Lego Rock Band store.

Lego Rock Band will be coming to your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo DS consoles this holiday season. While you get ready to rock, check out the full track listing for all versions of the game after the jump.

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“Build a band and rock the universe.” Quite an ambitious statement. The universe is a pretty big place. But luckily for Lego Rock Band players, they will be getting some help from a musical space-jamming legend as Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie joins the Lego Rock Band roster. For the first time, including actual artists as playable characters in the Rock Band franchise, don’t expect David Bowie to have the same reaction that Courtney Love did upon seeing her deceased husband Kurt Cobain singing Bon Jovi in Guitar Hero 5.

Instead, expect to see a Lego-ized version of The Thin White Duke much in the style of Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones as he takes the stage with his hit “Let’s Dance” — which can be seen after the jump. Being the first celebrity included in Lego Rock Band to be announced, fans will likely keep their eyes and ears peeled for any other famous rockers making their way in to the game before its November 10th release date on XBox 360 and Playstation 3 or November 17th on Wii.

Check out an exclusive video of Ziggy in Lego Rock Band after the jump.

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Rock Band Tracks This Week for XBox 360 and Playstation 3:

He may not be with us anymore but the King of Pop’s musical legacy is still alive and kicking with one of his first hits (along with his brothers) when “ABC” from the Jackson 5 makes it way to Rock Band this week. In addition, super-zero themed “Kryptonite” from 3 Doors Down joins them. Along with Audioslave’s “Gasoline” and AFI’s “Miss Murder”, all these singles will be available for $1.99 each (160 Microsoft points) when they go live on the Rock Band store on XBox 360 on September 8th and the Playstation 3 on September 10th.

In celebration of this past weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo PAX, the Freezepop Pack 01* and PAX 2009 Collection** will both be available with a selection of songs from the event’s performers. All the Freezepop and PAX songs will be available for $1.00 (80 Microsoft points) each or as 3 song packs for $2.99 (240 Microsoft points) when they go live on the Rock Band store on XBox 360 on September 8th and the Playstation 3 on September 10th.

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